In semiconductor devices, for example power semiconductor devices such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), insulated gate field effect transistors (IGFETs), for example metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), and bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), overvoltages occurring during device operation may damage the semiconductor device or circuit parts in case of insufficient protective measures. By way of example, IGBTs in induction cookers may suffer from overvoltages caused by instabilities of the mains power supply.
It is desirable to provide an overvoltage protection for transistors.